Prologue
Seven years ago
Will Delacour glanced out the second floor window of his townhouse, looking toward the forest. The blood roared in his ears and his skin felt too tight. Something was coming.
Something bad.
He couldn't see it but he felt it, the same way he felt the angry red flames running through his blood, demanding to be set free. Demanding to fight.
He ignored them.
His colony was full of people just like him. Renegades, they called themselves. Renegades — Edren and Carules sorcerers alike — were supposed to be mortal enemies, but they refused to fight in the war and had to seek asylum together inside magical wards. Apparently, refusing to fight in a war they didn’t believe in made them traitors to their people. And they deserved to die — at least, according to the powers in charge.
He frowned. The rest of his colony seemed as on edge as he was. Most were out in the dirt streets, staring into the darkness beyond his line of sight. He leaned closer to the window, trying to see what they saw.
That was when the screams started.
Will jerked up as the crowd below broke into chaos, running in every direction at once, as spells, long unused and unpracticed, bloomed to life in their hands. He sprinted to his door and flung it open, the screams seeming to burst over him like an explosion full of terror.
“The Prodigy! She's here!”
Ari. Ari was here. And they were all going to die.
He leaped over the side of the stairwell, landing on one knee in the dirt. He leaped to his feet and raced toward the wards — invisible, magical walls that had obviously failed them. He knew Ari could walk through normal wards, but he had hoped these made from Carules and Edren flames together would keep her out. He was so, so wrong.
Already, fire raced along the road, started by panicked sorcerers throwing spells on dry grass, and he raced with it. He could just see her, standing at the corner, a tiny thing but bigger than he remembered. The lirik burned in front of her as she watched those before her — children, old people, parents — with cold, heartless eyes. She would kill them all like insects. He couldn't let them die, not when she was there to kill only one person — him.
Smoke billowed around him, and through it he watched her raise her hand to push the spell. “Arianna! Leave them be! It's me you want!”
She froze, turning in slow motion toward him. She squinted through the darkness as he fought through the crowd toward her, trying to protect them, urging them to run, but they all seemed frozen in their fear. Her wide brown eyes, exactly like his, blinked twice and she tipped her head to the side as realization seemed to wash over her. Her tiny mouth dropped open in an “O” and tears flooded her eyes, soaking her cheeks.
Spells burst from behind him, from his Renegades, trying to protect him, and he watched as they hit the Prodigy one after another. In horror, he could do nothing but stare as his little sister fell to the ground amidst a riot of flames.
“Stop! Stop attacking her! She remembers!” He threw himself over her, smothering the flames, protecting her tiny body — she was ten, and probably for a ten-year-old she would seem tall, but to him she was so small. He felt more spells hit, but more importantly, he felt her struggle to take a breath. She still lived.
The spells stopped, and stunned silence fell around him. Cautiously, he raised his head. Dani Anderson, one of his newest colonists, looked around in confusion. “But—but she's going to kill you.”
Dani had left her family, her home, everything behind. She was completely alone in the world, and yet she was one of the most compassionate people Will had ever met. He appealed to that side of her now. “She was going to kill me, yes.” Rolling off Ari, he scooped her into his arms, hurrying through the crowd toward his home. They all backed away as if she were diseased and could contaminate them. “They made her forget. I
Seven years ago
Will Delacour glanced out the second floor window of his townhouse, looking toward the forest. The blood roared in his ears and his skin felt too tight. Something was coming.
Something bad.
He couldn't see it but he felt it, the same way he felt the angry red flames running through his blood, demanding to be set free. Demanding to fight.
He ignored them.
His colony was full of people just like him. Renegades, they called themselves. Renegades — Edren and Carules sorcerers alike — were supposed to be mortal enemies, but they refused to fight in the war and had to seek asylum together inside magical wards. Apparently, refusing to fight in a war they didn’t believe in made them traitors to their people. And they deserved to die — at least, according to the powers in charge.
He frowned. The rest of his colony seemed as on edge as he was. Most were out in the dirt streets, staring into the darkness beyond his line of sight. He leaned closer to the window, trying to see what they saw.
That was when the screams started.
Will jerked up as the crowd below broke into chaos, running in every direction at once, as spells, long unused and unpracticed, bloomed to life in their hands. He sprinted to his door and flung it open, the screams seeming to burst over him like an explosion full of terror.
“The Prodigy! She's here!”
Ari. Ari was here. And they were all going to die.
He leaped over the side of the stairwell, landing on one knee in the dirt. He leaped to his feet and raced toward the wards — invisible, magical walls that had obviously failed them. He knew Ari could walk through normal wards, but he had hoped these made from Carules and Edren flames together would keep her out. He was so, so wrong.
Already, fire raced along the road, started by panicked sorcerers throwing spells on dry grass, and he raced with it. He could just see her, standing at the corner, a tiny thing but bigger than he remembered. The lirik burned in front of her as she watched those before her — children, old people, parents — with cold, heartless eyes. She would kill them all like insects. He couldn't let them die, not when she was there to kill only one person — him.
Smoke billowed around him, and through it he watched her raise her hand to push the spell. “Arianna! Leave them be! It's me you want!”
She froze, turning in slow motion toward him. She squinted through the darkness as he fought through the crowd toward her, trying to protect them, urging them to run, but they all seemed frozen in their fear. Her wide brown eyes, exactly like his, blinked twice and she tipped her head to the side as realization seemed to wash over her. Her tiny mouth dropped open in an “O” and tears flooded her eyes, soaking her cheeks.
Spells burst from behind him, from his Renegades, trying to protect him, and he watched as they hit the Prodigy one after another. In horror, he could do nothing but stare as his little sister fell to the ground amidst a riot of flames.
“Stop! Stop attacking her! She remembers!” He threw himself over her, smothering the flames, protecting her tiny body — she was ten, and probably for a ten-year-old she would seem tall, but to him she was so small. He felt more spells hit, but more importantly, he felt her struggle to take a breath. She still lived.
The spells stopped, and stunned silence fell around him. Cautiously, he raised his head. Dani Anderson, one of his newest colonists, looked around in confusion. “But—but she's going to kill you.”
Dani had left her family, her home, everything behind. She was completely alone in the world, and yet she was one of the most compassionate people Will had ever met. He appealed to that side of her now. “She was going to kill me, yes.” Rolling off Ari, he scooped her into his arms, hurrying through the crowd toward his home. They all backed away as if she were diseased and could contaminate them. “They made her forget. I
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